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A new exhibition called The Long Nineteenth Century, which looks at British art from 1789 to 1918, opened at the Chris Beetles Gallery in London this week.

Many of those charting the huge changes in society over this period were cartoonists, of course, and the show features work by Gillray and Rowlandson, above, through to Tenniel and HeathRobinson. The exhibition runs until 12 April.

Still on BBC Four documentaries with questioning titles, the Scottish comic book artist FrankQuitely has been profiled in What Do Artists Do All Day?, which you can watch now on iPlayer.

The organisers of the MelkshamComicCon in Wiltshire are looking to expand the event in 2014 and have turned to Kickstarter for help. They clearly had fun making this “charity appeal” for the non-profit event. The target is just £5,000 and they emphasise that every £1 counts.

The Scottish Cartoon Art Studio is injecting some much-needed humour into the independence debate with an international touring exhibition called The Auld Acquaintance, above. Find out more here.

This year Finland is celebrating the centenary of the birth of ToveJansson, creator of the Moomins. If you don’t know your Moominmamma from your Moominpappa, you can get up to speed with this article by Mark Bosworth.

Several months after taking The Dandy purely digital, DC Thomson has suspended its existing app, saying that “the technology and format have let us down”. But the company has stressed that this is not the end of Britain’s longest-running comic.

A spokesperson said: “Discussions and planning are already under way to re-examine The Dandy’s digital offering. It is still too early to announce what form this next stage will take but we would like to reassure readers that The Dandy remains a very important part of the company’s plans for the future.”

We at Procartoonists.org will revisit the story when there is more to tell.

Procartoonists.org member Alexander Matthews has resurrected Lord Snooty for The Beano (above), and writes about his approach to the character on his blog. Snooty has been absent from the comic for a while (and was even replaced by his grandson for a time). Alex has also recently brought his distinctive style to another classic Beano character, Baby-Face Finlayson.

In more DC Thomson news, former Dandy editor Morris Heggie will be giving a talk about the comic’s 75 years at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh on 15 January. The talk, which follows a cartoon workshop for adults held on Wednesday, complements the library’s ongoing Dandy exhibition. Read more here.

Reassuring news (at least, reasonably reassuring) for gag cartoonists came from Reader’s Digest (UK) this week, after mass redundancies painted a bleak picture. While the company – which was bought out of administration in 2010 – is downsizing and will no longer sell retail goods, it apparently intends to continue publishing the monthly magazine as normal. Read the story here.

Axe Cop, the bizarre webcomic created by a five-year-old boy and illustrated by his cartoonist older brother, has been made into an animated TV show. Watch a clip here.

And finally, click here to be taken on a brief tour of The Certified Hunt Emerson, an iPad app featuring more than 200 pages of work by the renowned underground cartoonist (and Procartoonists.org member).

They said it would be the end of the world, but they were wrong … The Dandy is still with us (albeit in digital form), as mentioned here last week. There is, however, a documentary on 75 years of the comic, Just Dandy, showing on BBC One on New Year’s Eve, featuring contributions from the likes of Frank Skinner, Brian Cox, Bill Paterson and Nick Park. The programme is only being shown in Scotland, sadly but perhaps it will turn up on the iPlayer.

Axel Scheffler, the illustrator best known for his work on the Gruffalo books, has produced the designs for Royal Mail’s Christmas stamps this year. Scheffler talks to the BBC about this latest commission, and looks back at his early work, in this short video.

After widespread publicity about falling sales and the decision to cease printing, The Dandy has now gone digital. Check out the first issue of the interactive web comic here.

Newsagent Des Barr requested 50,000 copies of the last print edition of The Dandy and has been selling them from a pop-up store in Glasgow, as well as via the internet. Somewhat ironically, sales have apparently been strong – read about it here, or buy a copy.

In related coverage, New Statesman looks at the UK children’s comic industry – from the online Dandy to The Phoenix and others – and finds it is in rude health. The article is one of several published as part of a week-long celebration of British comics by the magazine. Find the other pieces here.

The Dandy: 75 Years of Biffs, Bangs and Banana Skins opens at the Cartoon Museum in London today.

The exhibition runs until 24 December, effectively out-living the comic itself, as the final print issue comes out on 4 December – 75 years to the day since its launch.

The comic will be moving online though, and the Cartoon Museum says that the exhibition will look forward “as Dandy prepares to embark on a new digital adventure“. It will include some exclusive material from the new Dandy which is currently in development,

Lots of favourite characters from the past feature in the show, such as Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, Corporal Clot, Winker Watson, Brassneck and Bananaman. Younger readers will be able to see Harry Hill, PreSkool Prime Minister and other recent strips. Visit the Cartoon Museum website for more details.

Following the announcement that The Dandy is to cease printing in December, Charlie Brooker argues that the move to online-only is only natural – and also writes about his own early experiences as a cartoonist. Read the piece here. Elsewhere, Dandy regular Jamie Smart calls on other artists and comic fans to work together for the benefit of the medium. Read his views on the direction comics should take here.

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